Limited English Proficiency Is Not Associated With Poor Postoperative Outcomes or Follow-Up Rates in Patients Undergoing Breast Reduction Mammoplasty – A Single Institution Retrospective Cohort Study

• Published in: The Journal of surgical research 2024-04, Vol.296, p.689-695
• Main Authors: Fei, Wang, Jinesh, Shah, Nicolas, Greige, Joseph, Yi, Jason, Ni, Ricci, Joseph A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Follow-up; Language disparities; Limited English proficiency; Postoperative complications
• ISSN: 0022-4804; 1095-8673
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2024.01.041

Limited English Proficiency (LEP) status has been associated with worse patient outcomes on a variety of metrics. A retrospective review of all bilateral breast reduction mammoplasty patients at our institution between 2015 and 2019 was performed. Data collected include patient demographics, language status, interpreter usage, complications, and follow-up clinic/emergency department visits. Patients were grouped into high and low follow-up cohorts by median follow-up. Bivariate testing and regression modeling were used for analysis. A total of 1023 patients were included. Average age and body mass index (BMI) were 37.7 years and 31.7 kg/m2. All LEP (21%) patients used interpreters. There were 590 individuals in the low follow-up and 433 in the high follow-up group. Those in low follow-up were younger, with lower BMI, and were more likely to use Medicaid. Prevalence of diabetes and postoperative emergency department visits were higher in the high follow-up cohort. There were no significant differences in race/ethnicity, smoking status, and interpreter use between groups. Poisson modeling demonstrated that presence of complications is associated with a 0.435 increase in the number of clinic visits and a 1-y increase in age is associated with a 0.006 increase (P